Merry Christmas!

This will be my last post for this year. Sending my early greetings to all my dear readers. Wishing all of you a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! :)

Red Bean Buns

These flower buns are made over the weekend. Wrapped with tsubu-an (chunky red bean paste).

Coconut Buns

Coconut Buns
Adapted from: Do What I Like

Ingredients (Makes 9)
Bread Dough
240 g bread flour
30 g cake flour
4 g instant yeast
40 g sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg + milk / water to measure up to 170 g
30 g unsalted butter

Coconut Filling
130 g freshly grated coconut
70 g gula melaka, chopped into small pieces
2 tbsp hot water
Pinch of salt

Method
Coconut Filling:
1. Put hot water and gula melaka into a saucepan over medium heat and cook till gula melaka dissolves.
2. Add in the freshly grated coconut and salt and cook till the mixture is a little dry. The filling should not be too wet but just moist enough.
3. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Bread Dough:
4. Combine all ingredients except butter in a bowl and knead till a non-sticky dough is formed.
5. Add in butter and continue to knead till the dough is smooth, elastic and non-sticky.
6. Place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it proof for about 60 minutes, or until double in volume.
Assembling:
7. Remove the dough from the bowl and give a few light kneading to punch out the gas in the dough.
8. Divide the dough into 9 equal portions, about 55 g each and shape into rounds.
9. Roll out each dough into a circle. Place a portion of coconut filling in the centre of the dough. Seal the bun tightly and shape into rounds. 
10. Place the dough on a lined baking tray, cover with cling wrap and let them proof for about 45 minutes.
11. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 15 – 20 minutes.

Notes
- I divided the dough to 10 portions, about 50 g each.

Sourdough Pretzels

It is very easy to make these pretzels. The recipe calls for sourdough starter straight from the refrigerator, hence there is no need to feed it first. :)

These pretzels are really soft and chewy when fresh from the oven. Sourdough pretzels, anyone? :)

Sourdough Pretzels
Adapted from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients (Makes 12)
Pretzel Dough
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed and straight from the refrigerator
3 cups plain flour
1/4 cup milk powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast

Topping
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lukewarm water
Some pretzel salt, for sprinkling
2 tbsp melted butter, for brushing (Optional)

Method
1. Mix and knead the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a cohesive, fairly smooth dough. It should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, knead in an additional tablespoon or two of water.
2. Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes. It will rise minimally. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, fold it over a few times to gently deflate it, then divide it into 12 pieces, each weighing about 2 ¼  to 2 ½ ounces.
4. Roll each piece of dough into an 18-inch rope. Shape each rope into a pretzel.
5. Prepare the topping solution: Dissolve the sugar in the water. Brush the pretzels with the solution, and sprinkle lightly with coarse pretzel salt.
6. Bake the pretzels for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're a light golden brown.
7. Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush with melted butter, if desired.

Notes
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap as you work with the individual pieces to keep it from drying out.
- There's no need to let the shaped pretzels rise before baking.
- I made half of the recipe and omitted pretzel salt.

Custard Buns

I had a hard time trying to wrap the custard filling into the bread dough. Only a couple of the buns turned out to be presentable, without the custard filling seeping out while baking. Haha...

This bun was for my breadfast on the following day. With some light toasting, the inside of the bun remains soft. Pardon the stingy amount of custard filling. If not, I might not be able to wrap this bun. Haha...

Melon Pan

My 100th post goes to these Melon Pan, a soft bun topped with a crunchy cookie crust. :)

Matcha Financiers

Matcha Financiers
Adapted from: Happy Flour

Ingredients (Makes 10)
50 g unsalted butter, melted
65 g egg whites
35 g caster sugar
25 g cake flour
25 g ground almond
1/2 tsp corn flour
1 tsp matcha powder
Pinch of baking powder
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Melt butter over low fire until slightly brown and gives off a nutty aroma. Set aside to cool and strain.
2. Sift cake flour, ground almonds, corn flour, matcha powder, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
3. In a clean big bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy.
4. Add in sugar and continue to whisk till sugar is dissolved.
5. Fold in flour mixture until well-blended.
6. Fold in melted butter until well-blended.
7. Spoon the batter into greased moulds till 90% full.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 10 – 15 minutes or till lightly browned.
9. Remove the financiers from the moulds and cool on a wire rack.

Notes
- I did not strain the butter after melting.

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Rustic Sourdough Bread
Adapted from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients (Makes 2 loaves)
1 cup "fed" sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp salt
5 cups plain flour

Method
1. Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough.
2. Allow the dough to rise, in a covered bowl, until it's doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
3. Gently divide the dough in half; it'll deflate somewhat.
4. Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves; or, for longer loaves, two 10" to 11" logs. Place the loaves on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
5. Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.
6. Make two fairly deep diagonal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.
7. Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Notes
- I made half of the recipe.

Awards (Liebster Blog, The Versatile Blogger)

This is a long over-due post.

Thank you to Cathy of Cathy's Joy and Honey Boy of Cosy Bake for passing this Liebster Blog Award to me. It is really sweet of them to remember me, even though I haven't been active on blogosphere. :)

And thank you to Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees for passing "The Versatile Blogger" award to me. :)

Natural Yeast Bread Loaf

With courtesy of Cathy, I am now a proud 'owner' of natural yeast too. It is really so fun to see the yeast bubbling, full with liveliness. :)

With this, I made this wonderful bread loaf. I have no problem when handling the dough as the dough is really soft and reaches the membrane stage easily. :)

Natural Yeast Bread Loaf
Adapted from: Cathy's Joy

Ingredients (Makes a loaf)
200 g natural yeast
230 g bread flour
20 g plain flour
20 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
90 ml milk
30 g butter

Method
1. Combine all ingredients except butter, in a mixer and beat until a non-sticky dough is formed.
2. Add in butter and continue to beat until the dough is smooth, elastic and non-sticky. Do the window pane test.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it proof for about 1.5 hrs, or until double in volume.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and give a few light kneading to punch out the gas in the dough.
5. Shape into round, cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.
6. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle, with the shorter end to be the same length as the length of the loaf pan. Roll up the dough from the shorter end in a swiss-roll style. Pinch and seal the seam.
7. Place the dough in a lightly greased loaf pan and let it proof for the second time for about 1.5 hrs, or until double in volume.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 45 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven, unmold immediately and let it cool completely before slicing.

Notes
- I divided the dough into 2 portions after the first proof.
- I sprinkled some water and Nestum cereals on top of the dough before popping it into the oven to bake.

Baking Together

I had a great time with Cathy last last Friday. I guess most of you would have already seen the photos of our bakes. :)

Matcha Swiss Roll with Red Beans

I finally get to join the swiss roll craze made popular by Junko's 彩繪蛋糕卷, thanks to the guidance from Cathy. Look at the beautiful swiss roll that we have made. Trust me, it not only looks pretty, it tastes fabulous too! You have my word on it. :)

Steamed Dual-Coloured Buns

Mantous (Chinese steamed buns) are normally shaped in round spiral. Due to my inconsistencies, these mantous have been transformed to triangular instead, which remind me of onigiri (a Japanese rice ball which are normally formed into triangular shapes). Soft and fluffy, they go well with a cupof green tea too! A new food fusion perhaps? :)

Please refer to Cathy's Joy for the recipes of the Matcha Swiss Roll with Red Beans and Steamed Dual-Coloured Buns. :)

I am back!

Hello everyone, here are just some updates from me. Of course, you can skip this post totally and you won't be missing anything. :)

A small confession, I haven't been baking actively during my MIA (i.e. missing in action) from blogosphere. And even if I did, I find little motivation in grabbing the camera, since I wasn't able to check the quality of the photos taken. Hence that isn't much backlog either.

Haha... I know, that is me and my excuses. :)

Anyway, I am happy to announce that I am back to blogosphere finally! Stay tuned! =)

P/S: I miss all of you! :)

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Blogging from my sister's laptop...

I found the rare yet popularly raved purple sweet potatoes during one of my grocery shoppings. Imagine my excitement and joy! :)

I really love these cupcakes. The cupcakes have a wonderfully soft texture and exude the lovely sweet potato fragrance. Strongly recommend! :)

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Adapted from: Anncoo Journal

Ingredients (Makes 6)
120 g butter
80 g sugar
2 eggs
120 g fresh milk / whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
140 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200 g purple sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed

Method
1. Sift plain flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add in ½ of the fresh milk (or whipping cream) and vanilla extract, mix well.
5. Add in the mashed sweet potatoes, mixing well at low speed.
6. Add in the remaining fresh milk (or whipping cream) and flour mixture alternately until all has been used up.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 – 25 minutes.

Happy Chinese New Year

It is gonna be our Chinese New Year in a few days time.

Wishing all readers a happy and prosperous lunar new year! :)